Tang hopes to give CSB "identity" as new coach

By Ivan Saldajeno

SAN JUAN, MM--TY Tang made his first official appearance as the new coach of CSB on Thursday when he attended the technical meeting of the FilOil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

Asked by some reporters after the meeting, the former La Salle point guard said that he just set a modest goal for CSB for the upcoming NCAA season.

"[There is] not really much expectation for us. What we really want is a change of atmosphere--a different type of environment and a different kind of mentality. It's been a while na wala silang pride and identity, and that's one thing we want to bring in," Tang said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to work on it. [I'm] not sure if it's gonna be this year, but slowly and surely, we wanna be a work in progress."

Tang, who also owns a basketball school, later revealed that he quickly grabbed the chance when he was reached out for the Blazers coaching job.

"When they approached me if I'm interested in this coaching job, I took the chance, applied for it, sent a letter of intent to the school, and the rest was history," he continued.

The 32-year-old Tang, who recently retired from playing following a stellar career with La Salle in the UAAP, Harbour Centre (now PBA's GlobalPort) in the PBL, Rain Or Shine in the PBA, and Mighty in the PCBL, further said that coaching was already on his mind during his heydays.

"Ever since I was a player, I didn't wanna close my doors to being a coach. I wanna try it out, explore, and hopefully be satisfied one day being able to develop players to being great athletes or just being great persons who are successful in whatever endeavor they may be eventually after school," continued Tang.

On the other hand, Tang, who played under Coach Franz Pumaren, a known advocate of pressure defense, with the Green Archers, will instill a playing system similar to the current Batang Pier and Adamson Soaring Falcons coach to the Blazers.

"We're gonna be a run-and-gun team. We're gonna be a defensive team more than an offensive team. Our offense will be just an aftermath of the kind of defense that we wanna bring in," Tang specified.

However, there is a key difference to Tang's system to the styles of Pumaren and even current La Salle coach Aldin Ayo.

"We want it structured also. We don't want it too much na labo-labo lang. But at the same time, we wanna be aggressive and assertive on how we run things," Tang bared.

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